On Sunday, November 23, 2008, I participated in the Great Ethiopian Run, an annual event, started by Olympic gold-medalist Haile Gebreselassie nearly 8 years ago which is meant to foster a sense of community, civic participation, active lifestyles and social consciousness about key emerging issues. The Great Ethiopian Run is a 10 km run through Addis Ababa which starts and ends at Meskal Square in the center of the city. Haile Gebreselassie was there to greet all of the runners as we started on the trek through Addis. Nearly 30,000 participants participate every year and this year, there were close to 32,000 people in the race. The first 10 winners receive cash prizes and everyone else receives a participation medal. Furthermore, this year, the run was devoted to raising public awareness about the suffering and plight of orphans and street children, so it was also for a worthy cause.
At this stage, many of you who know me well, must be wondering, what the heck is Prasanna doing at the Great Ethiopian Run? One of my good friends, Janani, gave me the nickname of Piles Crane. According to her, once, while playing ultimate Frisbee, I ran around like Niles Crane from the TV sitcom Fraser (played by comic genius David Hyde Pierce.) For those of you who have never seen Niles Crane run, he basically runs about with his legs flying every which way and his arms flailing in the air, out of breath after about 5 minutes of any physical activity. Even though I refused to admit it at the time, Janani was quite correct. I have no athletic skill whatsoever. I never have. I never will. I am the quintessential definition of a non-athlete.
However, I discovered to my great surprise, that the Great Ethiopian Run also allows participants to walk and to my great pleasure, all of the Canadians that I went with to the GER decided to walk this year. So, I walked 10 km on Sunday and I picked up a participation medal. It was my first sports-related medal ever! I once received a fourth-place ribbon at the Grade 8 track meet for long jump, but there were only 4 participants in the event, so the 4th place finish was not so much an accomplishment as it was a biting comment on my absolute inability to succeed athletically.
Throughout the Run….er walk on Sunday, we were stuck behind a group of singing participants who made it a point to protest the arrest and imprisonment of Ethiopian superstar and musical icon Teddy Afro. Every single time we tried to pass them, they would catch up with us and the chants and songs would start anew.
The walk was also a great way to see many parts of Addis that I have yet to discover. We started at Meskal Square, went west, would north and then circled back to Meskal – it was treat to experience the city on foot without the stress of the mini-buses and the drama of negotiating with unreasonable taxi drivers.
After the walk, a group of 20 Canadians and Americans and Europeans (the expats stick together) went to Rodeo Bar which is a country western eating establishment / bar in Addis. It felt like I stepped through a portal and landed back in rural Saskatchewan. All of the parking attendants at the restaurant were in cowboy hats and big boots. The waiters all wore those country shirts with the epaulettes and snap buttons. Such a treat – it was like being at the Longbranch in Saskatoon. Too funny! I never thought I would find a cowboy bar in Africa, but apparently they exist! Only in Addis!
